The Bible's Biggest Buts - Introduction

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: ‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptised with water, but in a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.’ Then they gathered round him and asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’ Acts 1:1‭-‬11 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/act.1.1-11.NIVUK I can't remember where I first heard it or read it, but I do remember how funny I thought it was. It's a cultural faux pas that tickles my very childish sense of humour. It's said that a Scottish preacher was on a speaking tour in America when he felt called to give a sermon on Moses doubting God. He prepared three points he felt would connect well with his American audience using one word Moses repeats a lot in several chapters of dialogue while trying to get out of leading the Israelites out of Egypt. The three points this preacher carefully chose to connect with his Trans-Atlantic audience were "Everyone has a but", "Not everyone can see their but" and "Some people's buts are bigger than others". Seriously. He could have added "Some people's buts just keep getting bigger", but that might have been interpreted as a negative comment on American obesity levels. Well, I'm going to go one better than him. You see, the word 'but' is very useful, apart from its sonic resemblance to the American English word for your hindquarters. It joins two clauses in a sentence, contrasting one with the other. It's used in many, many places in the Bible. It presents a black and white contrast between two opposing states, for example: In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus Romans 6:11 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/rom.6.11.NIVUK Or at the end of the Parable of the Prodigal Son: ‘ “My son,” the father said, “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” ’ Luke 15:31‭-‬32 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/luk.15.31-32.NIVUK Today we are going further than the Scottish preacher. We are going to examine five of the buts - of the biggest buts - in the Bible. And they are all contained within this passage. The first of these buts is that JESUS WAS DEAD, BUT HE IS ALIVE: